Why do you read?
by DarkSecretLove
Summary: Both Zexion and Demyx go to Barcelona Spain , not knowing each other. In the plane they meet and decide to spend their 9 days together, with all consequences that has. Zemyx.
1. Chapter one: Day one, Part A

**Author's comment: **

_Okay, this story needs some big time explaining!!!_

First of all:  
This story is partly based on things that really happened.  
I went to Barcelona with my class as the final trip with all of us. It was AWESOME, so awesome that I decided to write a story about it. I got the idea on the plane back home, and worked it out a little in the train. Back home, I started writing.

Either way, these are the rules:  
Everything Zexion and Demyx do together, is what we did as a class on our final trip. I had Demyx's seat. Other small details (Demyx's bag, the birthdays of both of them) are based on true stuff as well. Some of the emotions they show are based on true stuff as well. (mostly mine). You could see both of them a somewhat a part of me, as they both show emotions I've felt during the trip.  
You should know that every little thing that considers Riku, I made it up.  
So, in short: everything they do together was done by us as a class. Everything in the past they (might) talk about or think about wasn't based on true things.  
I hope this will explain the most of it... if you have questions PLEASE ask me.

Characters belong to Disney  
Story and events and everything else belongs to me. (wow, this is the first time I actually put up a disclaimer)

_I hope you enjoy reading =).  
__~DSL._

* * *

**Chapter 1: ****Day one, part A:**** Barca here we come!**

A nearly too happy tune was to be heard, followed by a groan and shifting sheets. A big fluff of brown hair shoved itself above the blanket and suddenly Demyx sat up straight, realizing that he was leaving today.

Zexion woke up because of the usual sounds: the dogs walking around, doors opening and closing and birds chirping. He gave a loud groan and laid back down again, ready to get some more sleep.

Soon Demyx had taken a shower, was dressed and sitting at an empty kitchen table, his housemates were off to school or work already and he had to be at the airport around four. He wondered what he would do during those nine days there.

After two more hours of sleep, Zexion woke up again, hearing a total silence. He sighed deep. He did not want to go to Spain. He did not want to fly in a plane. He did not want to sleep in a freaking hostel. He just didn't want to.

After breakfast Demyx decided to go out for some groceries for the journey to the airport and some food for the first day in Barcelona. Soon he had grabbed his car keys and left and shortly after he was standing in front of a closed supermarket. Not bothering that he couldn't get in he put on some music and waited for the doors to open.

Another deep sigh escaped Zexion. He didn't like the littlest thing of this. People forcing him to go on a holiday, even paying his fucking plane tickets. Well, he'd just bring books and he'd make it through the days. He should start packing though… let's see, what should he bring?

Not even half an hour later, Demyx had finished doing his groceries and stuffing the food into an overloaded suitcase and a backpack. The smallest bag would be hanging around his neck, with his wallet and other important things in it.

After about half an hour Zexion had finished packing, deciding not to bring a tent or anything because that was heavy. And he had to bring his books after all. Now all he had to do was wait until one until his train left to get him to the airport.

At some point Demyx decided it would be useful if he brought a copy of his passport. Racing to the scanner he nearly tripped over the dropped clothes and other things he decided not to bring.

Zexion decided to get outside, sit in the shadow and read some more before he had to go, which was in 45 minutes. He was kind of nervous, he had never been on a plane before and those things tend to crash from time to time…

Soon Demyx had collected everything and was getting bored because he had lots of time left before he had to go. He decided to watch some TV, to kill the time. After he turned the thing on his thoughts started drifting away, this would be the fourth time he'd be on a plane.

About two hours later Zexion was sitting in the train which would take him to the airport and he started to wonder: Why did they want him to go to Spain anyway? Oh, right, they said he had to get away from the house, the usual things and the depressing thoughts of his by now ex-boyfriend. Everybody thought he just had to get away for a while, taking some time to get things back on a row and get ready to start all over. Everybody thought that, except for him.

A few hours later, it was time for Demyx to leave for the airport. Luckily, he didn't have to travel that far and about twenty minutes later he was standing at the airport of Amsterdam, the one with the unpronounceable name: Schiphol. After giving it a few tries, he gave up trying to pronounce it and made his way to the check in. Thank god the row wasn't that long. Soon it was his turn to place his suitcase on the thing that would take it to the plane. 20.2 kilos, oops… A small smile was to be found on the face of the person tagging his bag, who handed him his ticket. 'Enjoy your trip!' Demyx grinned widely and nodded. 'Will do!'

After a two hours train voyage he finally arrived in Amsterdam, Schiphol. Damn, why did those Dutch people decide to pick a name for their airport that nobody could pronounce but themselves? Right, those people were stubborn as hell… that was probably the reason. With ease he placed his big backpack with everything in it on his back and the messenger bag over one shoulder. After walking around like a lost puppy on the huge airport for about half an hour, he finally found the place where he should check in. His bag was about 15 kilos, something he didn't quite understand: he didn't bring that much… okay the books. Definitely the books.

After Demyx got rid of his suitcase he decided to walk around for a while before going through the customs looking at some shops selling souvenirs and other things. He'd buy souvenirs in Barcelona. About fifteen minutes before he should be at the gate he went past the customs and not much later he had found his gate.

After dropping his bag Zexion went to the customs immediately, not wanting to walk around with so much people for too long and he had just reached an exciting part of the book he was currently reading. He settled on one of the chairs at the gate and picked up where he had stopped reading.

Demyx stood in front of the window, watching how the plane arrived, how the people left the plane and how the luggage of his flight was stuffed into the plane. Soon he saw his own big suitcase getting stuffed in the plane and lost his interest. He decided to sit down opposite a boy with slate hair who was currently reading a book thicker than any book Demyx ever had in his hands. Trying to read the title of the book, he fell out of his chair, landing on the floor with a small thud.

Not bothering what caused the thud, Zexion just read on, wanting the time to pass faster so that the whole plane thing would be left behind him. When the metallic voice told him he should start boarding he got up, placed the book in his bag and walked to the long line that would bring him to the plane. All the smiling faces and the happy talking were nearly driving him crazy, but thank god he had brought his MP3-player.

Shortly after Demyx joined the line that lead to the plane. All the happy talking made him even happier, it felt so good to know all these people were going on a holiday and were so happy about it. As he entered the plane he said hi to the air hostess who welcomed him and looked out for his seat. Soon he had found it, it was the seat 9B. He wondered who would be sitting next to him.

Zexion didn't bother to say hi to the air hostess, he just wanted to get to his seat and read on. He looked at his ticket, which one was his seat? 9A. that sounded like one next to a window… great, just what he needed. Soon he had found his seat, noticing a small boy with a brown mullet sitting in the seat in the middle.

Demyx spotted the same slate haired boy standing in front of his seat. Was this his neighbor for the coming two hours? That wouldn't be very exciting… He got up and let the boy take his seat. Damn him, he got the window seat.

Zexion sat down and fastened his seatbelt, not caring to listen to the air hostess telling her story about emergency exits and other useless stuff. He just read on, not caring to look outside to see the plane leaving the ground. Not caring to watch Amsterdam from high above.  
He did care that the take off made him feel sick though.

Soon Demyx had taken notice that his neighbor didn't give a fuck about the plane leaving, did not care to watch the city from above and did not care about anything. It also didn't take him long to find out that the boy was getting paler with the second and looked like he was about to either faint or puke. Dense as Demyx was, he placed his hand over the slate haired boy's.  
'Are you okay?'

Zexion was getting some serious trouble with the sick feeling building up in his stomach. Why did his family force him to go through this hell? He'd love to kill them personally when he got back. If he didn't die right there, right then.  
Suddenly there was a small hand covering his.  
'Are you okay?' A small, gentle voice asked him. He looked up, his eyes meeting worried blue ones. Blue eyes. Blue, worried eyes. Focusing on his eyes. His cold eyes. His cold, emotionless eyes.

Demyx was astonished at the reaction of his neighbor. The look in his eyes kind of scared him, he couldn't read a single emotion in them and they were like… like ice. The coldest kind of blue Demyx could think of.

Zexion raised an eyebrow. Someone just asked him if he was okay. This someone had a worried look in his eyes. This someone touched his hand –wait- was still touching his hand. Someone he didn't know showed some weird sort of affection. This someone actually cared if he was okay.

Still, those cold eyes were staring at his, for a moment, looking at their hands, then looking back into his eyes. He raised a fine eyebrow, giving his face a look of utter confusion. It took all Demyx' will not to giggle, the expression looked kind of funny.

Zexion noticed that his neighbor was trying not to giggle and pulled back his hand, grabbing his book again and reading on. He did feel a little better now as the plane had stopped making height. Still, he didn't feel completely great, but then again, he never did. Enough people had made fun of him. Enough people had laughed at him. He was not different from the others.

A small shot of pain went through Demyx as the boy pulled his hand back, a hurt expression on his face. What had he done wrong? Maybe this boy didn't like being touched. Or maybe he was deaf. Or maybe he was… right. Stop making excuses Dem, you just did something stupid.  
'Sorry' Demyx whispered, his voice hardly audible above the noise of the plane and the other passengers.

'Sorry' Zexion suddenly heard. He looked aside a little, to find the boy's expression to be utterly sad. Why did he apologize? The others never apologized… nobody ever cared to apologize to him. Why did he suddenly think three times the normal speed? What was this boy doing to him?

After not getting a response to his apology, Demyx put in his earplugs and tried to catch some sleep. Of course, he failed at that attempt. He always failed to fall asleep when his mind was troubled. He gave an irritated sigh, knowing that his mind was troubled because of someone he met not even an hour ago and who hadn't said a single word to him.

Zexion relaxed a little when his neighbor put in earplugs and sighed softly. As he noticed the eyes of the boy slipped closed he gave the boy a good look. He actually was pretty cute. He had sparkling blue eyes, so different from his own. If only they could become friends… no. They could not become friends. He would just end up getting hurt, like always. People tried, oh yes, they tried, they tried to like him for who he was, they tried to understand him. But somehow they always managed to make a big mistake, ending up hurting him badly and leaving him alone with his broken trust. He sighed deep. This wouldn't be different. He would never know what the true Zexion was like, because the true Zexion never showed himself. At least not after getting so fucked up by Riku. He sighed again. Riku was the first, and probably the last, that Zexion had fully trusted. The only one he had dared to show his true self to. And look what happened after that.

Demyx was listening to his music, but he could hear his neighbor sigh deep several times right through it. What was it with this boy? Demyx had a weird feeling in his belly, he didn't even know the boy and yet, he cared for him. He looked so broken. Broken. That was the right description for him. Demyx sighed, he wanted to un-break this person, glue him back together, showing him the world wasn't all evil.

Zexion couldn't help himself, the thoughts of what happened with Riku made him sad. So sad that a small tear made its way out of the corner of his eye. If only it had been one tear… when thinking of Riku it never was just one tear. It were lots of tears.

Demyx opened one of his eyes when he heard a muffled sob, soon locating the sob to be coming from the slate haired boy next to him. He searched his bag for a moment, soon finding what he was looking for: tissues. He got one out of the package and handed it to the boy.

Suddenly Zexion saw something white in the corner of his eye. The white thing being a tissue, held out for him. He actually cared to give Zexion a tissue. He. Cared. To. Give. Me. A. Tissue. Zexion took the tissue and wiped his eyes. Not that it helped, there were new tears coming immediately. But still, the boy gave him a tissue. This meant he didn't want Zexion to cry. Maybe he was different…

Demyx decided to give him the whole package soon, as the tears kept flowing. The boy didn't say thanks, but glanced over at him for a moment. That one moment of eye contact was enough. The cold eyes showed a lot of emotions, but also thanks. Demyx gave a gentle smile, saying something like you're welcome with that.

After half of the tissues were gone, Zexion had stopped crying. He had stopped crying and had seen one of the prettiest smiles in the world.

Demyx couldn't do much more but keep a small smile on his lips, he had helped this boy, he had managed to make him stop crying.

Just to get his thoughts a little back on a line instead of some sort of whirlwind, Zexion grabbed his book again and continued reading.

Demyx looked away the moment the boy grabbed his book again. It probably helped him to stay sane or something. Maybe. Then he saw an airhostess passing by and he bought something to drink.

No matter how hard Zexion tried, he couldn't concentrate on the words. They seemed to be dancing in front of his eyes and they definitely didn't form any logical sentences, if they formed logical words in the first place. He rubbed his temples in frustration and sighed deep, the only times this had happened before were the first weeks after Riku had raped him for the first time… crap. He really shouldn't think about that right now, otherwise he'd end up crying again.

Demyx felt truly sorry for this boy. He seemed so hurt and broken, so… out of place in some way. Maybe he should let it rest, how big was the chance they'd ever meet again after this flight? When he thought about it, he cared about this boy. He didn't know why, but he did. He cared.

At some point, the words stopped dancing and the sentences were logical again. He sighed deep and took a quick glance out of the small window, seeing nothing but clouds and the wing. Soon he lost interest and focused back on his book, to spend the next ten minutes reading.

Demyx got bored pretty quickly and didn't really see anything interesting but his neighbor. As he wanted to talk to the boy, he decided to start a conversation.  
'Why do you read?' Zexion suddenly heard. His head shot up, looking at his neighbor.  
'Excuse me?'  
'Why do you read? It's great to look outside, you know. The clouds are pretty from above and when we get closer to Barca, you'll see the beach, the sea, the city lights… really, it's amazing.' Zexion shrugged.  
'I guess I could take a look… it's my first time on a plane.' Damn this boy! He made Zexion actually put effort in his sentences, instead of a two word answer.

Demyx eyes widened.  
'Are you serious? Then you should really take a look outside! I'm Demyx by the way.' He said with a kind smile.  
'Zexion.' Then the boy went back to reading. Damn, this was going to be fun, he had said about three sentences and now he was reading again. Demyx decided to not let this stop him from making a conversation.  
'So, where are you staying in Barcelona?'  
Zexion let out a small sigh, this boy didn't look like he was about to leave him alone and let him just be.  
'The first night I'm staying in La Ciutat, a youth hostel or something. Why?'  
'Really?! I'm staying there too! That's great, maybe we could hang out or something!' Demyx beamed and immediately he started thinking about the things they could do together.

Oh. Shit. This was not good. The boy was staying in the same hostel as he was, and actually asked him to hang out.  
'Why would you want to do that? It's not like I'm that great of a social person. And I prefer to spend my time reading than 'hanging out' as you call it.'

Demyx was taking a little aback at this statement.  
'Well, first of all, because I kind of like you, second, we're both alone and I'm sure we'd have more fun if we'd spend our time together. Third, you don't seem to happy and I was hoping I could change that a little.'

Now it was Zexion's turn to be surprised. A deep red blush spread itself across his face, half hidden by his hair, but still viewable.  
'You don't even know me, how can you say you like me?' he asked in a whisper.  
'Well, like I said, I would like to change your unhappiness into something a little more happy… and I'd like to get to know you, if you let me at least.' Demyx answered with a small smile, his head slanting a little.

'Trust me, you don't want to get to know me. People usually don't like me. So don't bother.' Zexion said and Demyx felt a small shot of pain go through him.  
'Well, I'm not like 'people' and I do want to get to know you and I'll judge it myself if I like you or not.' Zexion didn't know what to say to this, so he shut up for the moment.  
'Do you know how to get to the hostel?' Demyx asked and Zexion shook his head. 'Well, then you'll have to put up with my anyway, because I do know. We have to take a train first, then some metros and then we'll have to either ask or get a cab.'

Great, the kid was seriously trying to stay with him. He even offered him help to get to the damned hostel in the first place. This was going to be great fun. Zexion really had to find another hostel or anything, if he wanted to spend some time alone instead of with this bubbly teen.

Demyx had a slight grin on his face as he noticed that the boy didn't know how to get there and also was at a loss for words.

Suddenly Zexion yawned and rubbed his eyes, keeping them closed afterwards. Soon he felt sleep take over and he let sleep take over. Sleep had become something that wasn't something usual for Zexion. Every time he'd fall asleep, he'd wake up screaming at some point, always reliving the countless times Riku raped him.

Demyx noticed the yawn and soon he saw that the boy relaxed and his breath became slow and steady. He decided to get some more sleep himself, until the plane would start to descend. He woke when the arm close to his was starting to shake violently. Looking beside him, he saw a stressed and pained expression on the face of his neighbor. Luckily, the pilot announced the descend, which gave Demyx a reason to wake the boy.

Zexion woke with a start as he felt a hand on his arm. Panicking he pulled back his arm and shrank in his chair, a scared expression on his face. When he noticed it was Demyx and the plane was descending he could relax a little, they were getting close to their destination and Riku was far from where he was.

Demyx was a little taken aback at the reaction he got when he placed his hand on Zexion's arm, the boy moved faster than Demyx had ever seen someone do, making himself as small as possible and looking at him with eyes full of fear. The rawness of the emotion startled Demyx, he had never seen fear in such a pure form. The boy relaxed a little when he recognized Demyx.  
'We're descending.' he said and Zexion nodded.


	2. Chapter one: Day one, Part B

Okay, this story needs some big time explaining!!!

First of all:  
This story is partly based on things that really happened.  
As most of my watchers know, I went to Barcelona with my class as the final trip with all of us. It was AWESOME, so awesome that I decided to write a story about it. I got the idea on the plane back home, and worked it out a little in the train. Back home, I started writing.

Either way, these are the rules:  
Everything Zexion and Demyx do together, is what we did as a class on our final trip. I had Demyx's seat. Other small details (Demyx's bag, the birthdays of both of them) are based on true stuff as well. Some of the emotions they show are based on true stuff as well. (mostly mine). You could see both of them a somewhat a part of me, as they both show emotions I've felt during the trip.  
You should know that every little thing that considers Riku, I made it up.  
So, in short: everything they do together was done by us as a class. Everything in the past they (might) talk about or think about wasn't based on true things.  
I hope this will explain the most of it... if you have questions PLEASE ask me.

Characters belong to Disney  
Story and events and everything else belongs to me.

_I hope you enjoy reading =)_

_~DSL. _

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 1: ****Day One, Part B:**** The hostel from hell**

When they were on the ground, safe and well, Zexion let out a sigh of relief, he was still alive and in Barcelona. As they exited the plane, a wall of heat hit him in his face. Damn, why was it still so warm out there?! Soon he had made his way to the point where he'd get his luggage back, happy to be reunited with his books and personal stuff.

Demyx chuckled lightly at Zexion's sigh, he was happy to have arrived by now, the flight had been a weird experience. As he exited the plane he felt a lot warmer than in the plane, obviously because of the air conditioning in the plane. They approached the luggage and soon he had found his suitcase, the big, orange thing stood out pretty badly. He pulled the thing towards himself and was surprised at the weight.

Zexion found himself following Demyx on his way out of the airport, into the hot evening air of Barcelona. He didn't find it very welcoming. Soon they had made their way to the train station that was attached to the airport and bought their tickets, to make their way to the train rather quickly, as it was about to leave.

The train was pretty much filled to the top, there were no empty seats and Demyx was glad he could sit on his suitcase. He offered Zexion a small piece of it, so he could sit as well, but the boy declined. Demyx knew that soon they would have to catch a metro, bringing them closer to the hostel.

When they got out, Zexion walked after Demyx again, who looked like he did this every day. After walking up and down several stairs, Demyx ran out of breath with his heavy suitcase, which caused Zexion to have a small grin on his face.

After changing the metro lines several times, Demyx saw that they had to get out at the next station: Uruiganoa. From there on, they had to walk, as there was no metro that would get them closer to the hostel.  
'We have to get out at the next station.' he said and Zexion nodded, to let him know he had heard him.

When they got out, the air was still hot and unwelcoming, at least, if you asked Zexion. Demyx didn't seem to bother that much, he was just having trouble with his suitcase. Soon Zexion got this feeling that Demyx had absolutely no idea where the hell he was going, let alone he had any idea if they were walking in the proper direction.

At some point, somehow, nobody knew how, they got lost. Badly. Demyx really had no idea where the hell they were and Zexion wasn't really a good help, as he didn't know either and hadn't said more than ten words after they had hopped off the metro. When they passed someone, Demyx decided to give it a try and find out if he knew where the hell they were and if the hostel was close.

As Demyx asked someone for the directions, Zexion took a good look at his suitcase. It seemed exaggerated big, but most of all, it seemed heavy. He wondered what the hell was in the thing, he didn't think Demyx was much of a reader, so it were no books. But what was in there?

Soon, it appeared that (thank god) they had walked in the right direction and that the hostel was –how surprising- at the top of the hill, somewhere in a street on the right. With a deep sigh, Demyx grabbed his suitcase and started walking again.  
'You don't happen to have any water on you, do you?' he asked Zexion at some point, who shook his head. He sighed deep again and walked on, pulling his suitcase with him.

He had to admit, Zexion wished he did have some water. He was thirsty as hell. And he needed a shower. A long, cold shower. He also needed a night of decent sleep. But it was not like that was going to happen very soon anyway, so he didn't really bother to hope for that.

After walking around in the streets of Barcelona for about an hour, Demyx finally saw the street they were supposed to be in: Ca l'Alegre de Dalt street. Too tired to bother how he was supposed to pronounce it, he looked at the numbers. Thank god, the numbers were going down from ninety-something and the hostel was at number 66.

Zexion sighed deep as Demyx announced that they were almost there, that they had at least find the right street. After walking down the street for a while, suddenly at their left there it was; their hostel for the night. Demyx rang the bell and soon there was someone opening the doors for them.  
'I'll take care of the rooms.' Demyx said. Zexion just nodded and sat down.  
Demyx talked with the man that opened the door for a while and soon it seemed that there was only one room left and they had to share it. The man gave him two papers, one for both of them they had to fill in. He passed one to Zexion and grabbed a pen. When he tried to write down his name, his hands were shaking too badly to write it properly. His hands hurt. Big time.

Zexion filled out the paper without any problems, but saw Demyx having trouble with his hands: they were shaking badly.  
'You okay?' he asked. Demyx nodded.  
'Yeah, my suitcase is just… impossible and heavy…'  
'You want me to fill it in for you?' Zexion said it before he even realized what he had just said. He offered Demyx his help.  
'If you want to…' Demyx answered with a small blush.

'Name?' Zexion asked.  
'Demyx.' Demyx replied.  
'Surname?'  
'Toriyama.'  
'Date of birth?'  
'Second of July, 1990. You?' Demyx asked with a small grin.  
'Twelfth of February, 1989.'  
When they had completed filling in the papers, Zexion gave the man the papers and the pens back and grabbed his bag. He was unpleasantly surprised when he saw that Demyx was holding just one key.  
'There's only one room left…' Demyx said. Zexion nodded and sighed deep. This was so not going to be fun.

As they entered the room, Demyx saw two single beds and a closet. Another door led to a toilet and a wash-bowl. That's it. He dropped his suitcase next to one of the beds and opened the window, letting in the warm evening air.

'The showers are in the hallway.' Zexion said, pointing at a paper at the door. Demyx nodded and grabbed the stuff he needed in the shower. Soon, Zexion was left alone and he sat down at the bed, carefully looking through his bag to find his towel and shampoo. He rolled out his sleeping bag and walked out the door, locking it behind him.

Demyx stood still with his eyes closed, the cold water streaming down his body in small streams, cooling it down a little. When he heard the door of the bathroom open, he opened his eyes.  
'Zexion?' He asked carefully.  
'Yeah it's me.' Came a soft reply. Soon the stall next to Demyx's was occupied as well and there was the sound of more water running. Shortly after, Demyx's eyes closed again and enjoyed the simple moment of cooling down.

When Zexion finally stepped under the pretty cold water he sighed deep. This felt really good. He gave another deep sigh and started his usual ritual in the shower, carefully washing his whole body. No matter how often he repeated this ritual, sometimes he even repeated it three times a day, he just couldn't manage to feel clean. Not after what Riku had done to his body, making him feel disgusting and dirty.

Soon, a nice smell entered Demyx's nose, he couldn't exactly understand what he was smelling, but it smelt nice altogether. He decided to wash his hair and so he grabbed the shampoo bottle that he had brought. He squirted some of the stuff in his hand and immediately smelt the pineapples. When he finished washing his hair he grabbed his shower-gel, which smelled like coconuts.

As Zexion finished his ritual, he took the time on washing his hair, noticing that Demyx was done already. When he got rid of all the shampoo in his hair, he decided that that was enough for today and turned off the shower and grabbed his towel, starting to dry himself off.

Soon, Demyx was dressed in his boxers and some pants and wanted to go back to the room, when he realized that Zexion had the key. So he walked back to the bathroom, entering without a second thought, to find Zexion in his boxers outside the shower stall, quickly hiding his body behind a towel. But Demyx had taken notice.

When Zexion got out of the stall he was wearing nothing but a pair of boxers, he found that Demyx had left the bathroom already. He bent over to grab his pants, when the door opened. He shot up immediately, seeing Demyx standing in the doorway. As soon as he saw Demyx, he grabbed his towel and hid behind it. He didn't want him to see, not yet at least. His chest was pretty much a collection of scars, once again thanks to Riku. His back wasn't much better…  
'Uh…' Demyx said, not wanting to embarrass Zexion in any way. Then he turned around, giving Zexion the opportunity to put on a shirt.  
'You have the key, I forgot that for the moment and so I was standing in front of a locked door… and sorry for running into you like this…' Demyx said.  
'Yeah, I figured… and it's okay.' Zexion answered.

As Zexion unlocked the door to their room, Demyx was looking around.  
'I don't know about you, but I'm moving on tomorrow… I really don't want to stay here… this place just doesn't feel right and it's way too hot in the middle of the city if you ask me.' Zexion nodded and entered the room, looking for his toothbrush.  
'Agreed.' Then he walked off to the wash bin and started to brush his teeth.  
'You could come with me, if you want to?' Demyx asked, opening his suitcase and looking for his sleeping bag. 'I've got a tent with me and an air mattress, so we could, you know, travel around together or something like that if you want to?'

The last sentence nearly made Zexion choke, Demyx actually offered him to travel along? He actually wanted Zexion as his company? He finished brushing his teeth and got back to the small room where Demyx was.  
'You really want me as your company?' He asked, a faint blush spreading on his face.  
'Well, yeah, that should be obvious, as I'm asking you?' Demyx said with a smile.  
'But I have nothing with me but this sleeping bag, not for camping or anything.' This made Demyx chuckle.  
'Well, we could share the air mattress and as you have your own sleeping bag and I have my own, I don't really see a problem.'

Demyx inwardly chuckled at Zexion's reaction, he was kinda cute actually.  
'Uh… I… You… Me…' Zexion stuttered, nearly blushing his head off.  
'Well, yeah, you, me in the same tent on the same mattress. That shouldn't be a problem though, it's a double air mattress, so we've got enough room. Actually, I slept on it with Axel and Roxas once, and we still had plenty of room, so there really shouldn't be any problems.'

Zexion smiled a little at this, this boy seemed so naive, so innocent. So not knowing.  
'I'd like to join you, if you let me.' He said, followed by mentally kicking himself, he knew how he was at night. He knew it would wake Demyx up. He knew it would bring up questions. He knew Demyx wouldn't want him to sleep next to him when he knew the real story.

Demyx gave him a huge, real smile.  
'That's awesome! Back home I looked up some campsites close to Barcelona and I thought the campsite in El Masnou looked pretty good, so we're going there, okay?'  
'Sure, whatever suits you. What's so special about El Masnou?' Zexion asked and Demyx smiled again.  
'Well, it has a pool, some trees, and it's very close to the train station, where a train leaves to Barcelona about every ten minutes and even better: it's very close to the sea.' Zexion gave a very small smile at this.

When Zexion thought about it, going with Demyx might be a good idea. He wouldn't feel so lonely all the time, lost in a city somewhere on the other side of Europe. And Demyx didn't seem such a bad guy. With Demyx, this whole Barcelona trip might turn out better than he thought.

'Hey, I don't know about you, but I'm going to try and get some sleep… I'm pretty damn tired.' Demyx said, again rummaging through his suitcase and finding his pajama pants. He left to the tiny bathroom to change, not wanting to embarrass Zexion any further. That would be a problem when they shared one tent though…

Zexion sighed deep and grabbed his pajama pants as well, along with a loose shirt. This whole going with Demyx thing felt kinda double. Demyx was nice and all and he liked him, sort of at least. But, he was so fucked up on the inside. So, so, totally fucked up. He sighed deep as he pulled the loose shirt over his head, wondering if he would ever be able to be friends with anyone without scaring them away.

As Demyx returned he saw that Zexion had changed his clothes as well. Digging through his clothes in his suitcase, Demyx finally found what he was looking for: his sweet dreams shirt. Actually it read 'kauniita unia', Finnish for sweet dreams. On the front it read Sonata Arctica and beneath that Unia. Sonata Arctica was a band he used to like a lot and when he had seen people walking around in that shirt he decided he wanted it. Ever since, he slept in the shirt, hoping it would give him pretty dreams.

Zexion lied down and gave another sigh, reaching for one of his books and starting to read. Reading was his way to escape the world, escape everything and everyone around him and be in his safe, secret world for a moment.

Demyx gave a small sigh, content in his sweet dreams shirt and watched Zexion reading. Again he tried to read the title, but it didn't seem as an interesting book to him. He decided to give the boy himself a look. Well, he had done that already in the plane, but Zexion seemed much more at ease now. Even though it was nice to see him a little more relaxed, Demyx decided to ask the question the whole thing started with again.  
'Why do you read?'

At first, Zexion didn't hear the question and kept reading, until Demyx sat down at his bed and slightly pulled the book away from his eyes.  
'Why do you read?' A curious, brown haired boy asked.  
'Because I like to do so?' Zexion answered with a cocked eyebrow.  
'Okay, but why do you like doing so?' Demyx asked.  
'Well, it's a way of escaping the every day life. In books you can be whoever you want, you don't have to follow all the rules that everyone makes up and so you can do pretty much everything you want. It's an escape from the world actually.'

Demyx nodded.  
'I know how you feel! I have the same, but with writing and making music instead of reading! It's like you have your own secret world where nobody can reach you, touch you or hurt you. It's a place where you're understood and where you're safe.' Zexion nodded at this.  
'Exactly.' Demyx smiled and went back to his own bed.  
'Hey, I'm going to try and catch some sleep, would you turn off the lights when you're done reading?' Zexion gave another nod and Demyx laid down at his bed, turning away from the light and closing his eyes. The day had been long, with lots of new experiences and very tiring. He was ready for a good portion of sleep.

Zexion watched Demyx turn his back to him, falling asleep soon after.  
'Wish I could fall asleep that easily…' he thought bitterly. That would be hell, if Zexion shared the air mattress with Demyx, Demyx would know about the nightmares. There was no escaping that, he would know. He sighed deep, staying awake for those 8 days that were coming up was no option either… he'd just have to hope that the nightmares would leave him alone, at least for these days…  
Zexion sighed again, putting away the book and getting up to turn off the lights. Reading wouldn't help him much, he couldn't concentrate and it was way too hot in here. He laid down at the bed again and closed his eyes, hoping to fall asleep and not waking up screaming because of his nightmares.

Demyx woke with a start when he heard loud voices in the hallway, speaking some foreign language he faintly recognized as French. He looked at Zexion, who was sitting up straight and had his hands covering his ears. Demyx got up and walked to the door, cursing the people outside who appeared to be French. In the hallway he met some other guests as well, who were trying just as hard to make clear that they should be quiet at four in the fucking morning. But, as everybody who ever ran into French people knows, the French don't speak English, or they refuse to do so. In crappy French, Demyx tried to make clear that they should be quiet and that he wanted to sleep. After a few minutes he gave up and went back to the room, his mood lowered until about six feet underground.

Zexion watched Demyx come back into the room. The boy seemed very tired and a little grumpy. Zexion had heard the French coming in downstairs, and making a hell of a lot of noise from the beginning. He had still been awake, aware of the fact that it was four in the morning. He sighed deep. A night with some good rest was too much to ask for as it appeared, but he laid back down anyway. He watched Demyx do the same and after turning for about half an hour Demyx had fallen asleep again.


	3. Chapter two: Day two, Part A

**Author's note:**

**I'm sorry it took me so long to update, I've been very busy with my study and my family has been going through hell and back...  
Part B shouldn't take long anymore, I'm nearing the end of the second day.**

**Author's comment:  
First: I'm sorry this took me so long, I've been very busy with my study and my family has been through hell and back... **

This story is partly based on things that really happened.  
I went to Barcelona with my class as the final trip with all of us. It was AWESOME, so awesome that I decided to write a story about it. I got the idea on the plane back home, and worked it out a little in the train. Back home, I started writing.

Either way, these are the rules:  
Everything Zexion and Demyx do together, is what we did as a class on our final trip. I had Demyx's seat. Other small details (Demyx's bag, the birthdays of both of them) are based on true stuff as well. Some of the emotions they show are based on true stuff as well. (mostly mine). You could see both of them a somewhat a part of me, as they both show emotions I've felt during the trip.  
You should know that every little thing that considers Riku, I made it up.  
So, in short: everything they do together was done by us as a class. Everything in the past they (might) talk about or think about wasn't based on true things.  
I hope this will explain the most of it... if you have questions PLEASE ask me.

Characters belong to Disney  
Story and events and everything else belongs to me. (wow, this is the first time I actually put up a disclaimer)

_I hope you enjoy reading =).  
__~DSL._

**

* * *

**

**Chapter two: Day two, part A: Horrible breakfasts and sightseeing**

The same happy tune of the day before announced the morning. Demyx groaned and searched for his phone, trying to shut the annoying sound out. For once, he didn't like the tune, for once he just wanted to sleep some more. When he found it he stopped the sound, slowly waking up.

Zexion woke up about half an hour before the alarm would go off. He didn't sleep very well, something he was used to. Staring at the ceiling, wondering why and thinking about Riku occupied his mind most of the night, and that didn't exactly made him sleepy. So, when the boy in the bed next to his tried to shut off the horribly annoying sound, he was already fully awake and dressed.

Demyx sighed deep and rubbed his eyes, in an attempt to wake up. Shortly afterwards he yawned and stretched his muscles. Damn these beds. Right, so it was around half an hour past eight in the morning and they had to get out to breakfast, otherwise they wouldn't be able to have any. He looked aside, seeing Zexion fully awake and dressed already.  
'Good morning.'

Zexion nodded when the boy looked towards him.  
'Morning.' The boy shot a bright smile at him.  
'How did you sleep?' Zexion sighed inwardly, not really wanting to answer that question truthfully.  
'I've slept better. You?' Demyx answered that he experienced the same on these horrible beds. Zexion was sure that if he could get some sleep in the first place, he slept just fine on these beds. He'd probably sleep anywhere.

Demyx got up and grabbed some clothes to wear today, picking out a tanktop and some very loose pants made of very thin fabric. He quickly changed in the small bathroom and brushed his teeth. Soon after he was ready for breakfast. Together with Zexion he went looking for the room where breakfast would be served.

When seated at one of the tables, Zexion looked down at his so called breakfast; some juice, some bread with cheese and cereal. It all didn't look very nice and when he took a sip of his juice, he nearly spat it back out.

Demyx couldn't help but chuckle as Zexion was nearly choking on his juice.  
'Is it really that bad?' he asked, trying to keep down his laughter.  
'As a matter of fact, yes, it is. It's not even close to orange juice, it's more like lemonade.' Zexion answered, making a disgusting face.  
'Can I try?' Demyx asked, wondering if it really was that bad.  
'Sure, it's disgusting though.'

Zexion watched Demyx take a sip of the disgusting thing called 'orange juice' and make a disgusted face as well. A tiny smile reached his lips, if he hadn't been the way he was, he would have chuckled, or even laughed.

Demyx passed the orange juice back to Zexion and said he was going to get some coffee and if Zexion wanted some. When he declined Demyx got up and walked to the coffee machine. When he got back, Zexion was chewing on his bread, looking very much disgusted again.  
'Just as bad I suppose?' Demyx asked giggling. Zexion just nodded  
'Yeah, but I've got to eat something...' Now it was Demyx's turn to nod.

When Demyx took a sip of his coffee, it appeared to be even worse than the orange juice and the bread. This time, he really spat it right back into the cup.  
'That, is by far the worst coffee I've ever had.' This time Zexion felt a strange sensation. His mouth pulled up the slightest in the corner, forming a small grin.

Demyx hadn't missed the small grin, and he grinned right back.  
'What do you say, get some coffee somewhere later today?' Zexion nodded again and finished his breakfast and got up.  
'Let's go.' Demyx got up as well and after dumping their plates they walked back to their room. After opening the door they started cleaning up the small room, putting everything in their bags again.

After repacking everything Zexion walked downstairs, back to the lobby. Demyx had taken the elevator, and looking at his suitcase, Zexion thought that was a very clever idea of the boy. He just turned around the corner when the crappy door of the elevator opened and Demyx stepped out.

When they left their luggage in the hostel, Demyx decided they were going to the Sagrada Familia. This was pretty close by and one of the main highlights of Barcelona. After that, they would go get some lunch and walk to the Parc Guëlle. With a map in his hands, he stepped outside into the sun, enjoying the feeling of warmth on his skin.  
'Okay, this is what we're going to do.' He pointed at the map. 'Here's the Sagrada, and here are we. This-', he pointed at several points on the map, 'is the quickest route there, so I guess we should take that.' Zexion just nodded.  
'This way then!' Demyx said cheerfully.

Zexion was surprised that he wasn't exactly bothered by Demyx's cheery voice and bubbly personality. "Guess I got used to that pretty quickly," Zexion thought as he followed Demyx down the street.

After walking through several streets, Demyx finally spotted the Sagrada across the square. When they had bought their tickets, they joined the queue for the elevator that would take them up into one of the towers. Luckily the row wasn't that very long, and there were brochures with lots of information about the old church, that was still not finished. Even though reading wasn't exactly his thing, a cultural miracle like the Sagrada was worth reading some brochure. And looking at the fact that he didn't have much else to do, he'd go with that.

Zexion stood beside Demyx, just looking around a little, amazed at the beauty of the church, even though it wasn't finished. Knowing that the building started in 1882, there had to be parts that were already finished but needed renovation. It was supposed to be finished in 2026, but he doubted that a little. There was still so much work to do to finish it, but when the whole thing would be finished, there would be tons of renovations needed for the older parts... He was pulled out of his thoughts when Demyx pulled his arm to get him into the elevator.

Demyx's eyes pretty much popped out of their sockets once they were in the tower, watching out over Barcelona and enjoying the view.  
'Demyx, seriously, shut your mouth. You look like a sheep that was just asked by a wolf to be his friend.' Realising his mouth was indeed open, he closed it and then cocked an eyebrow at the sheep comment.  
'Seriously, Zexion, how the hell did you come up with that?' Zexion shrugged and walked on to another part of the tower. Demyx chuckled. A sheep that was asked to be a wolf's friend? Right.

After walking down several spiral staircases and looking out every time they could, they were at the bottom of the final staircase, entering the main room of the church. Lots of people were working in there, and so there were paths where the visitors could walk. As they walked around, Zexion saw everyone around him taking pictures and staring perplexed at the ceiling.

When they got out of the Sagrada, Demyx was ready for a nice cup of coffee. On the square there was some sort of stand that sold sandwiches and, to his delight; coffee. Once he got his coffee, he turned around to find Zexion sitting at a bench in the shadow of a tree, his eyes closed.  
'You okay?' Demyx asked as he sat down next to Zexion. Zexion hummed.  
'Yeah, the sun just hurts my eyes a little and I'll probably get a headache later today, but that's nothing.' Demyx shrugged and sipped his coffee in silence.

Zexion hadn't been completely honest with Demyx. Whenever he was in the sun for too long, without something to protect his eyes, he would have a splitting headache for the rest of the day. When Demyx finished his coffee, he got up and wanted to walk away, not aware that Zexion was still sitting on the bench, watching him with small amusement.  
'What?' Demyx asked after turning around.  
'Well, you have absolutely no idea where the hell you're going, and it would be a nice idea to take a look at that map again to see where we're supposed to go to get to Parc Guël.' Demyx smiled and got back to Zexion within an instant.

Demyx stared ad the map for quite a long time. Where was that damned parc? Zexion grabbed the map from his hands and turned it around, looking for an index. After he found it, he turned the thing around again and found Parc Guël without any problems. They would pass the hostel again on their way and Demyx said he wanted to change his shoes if they were passing it anyway. His feet were way too hot in these sneakers. Flip-flop time!

On their way back to the hostel they passed a supermarket and Zexion was getting hungry.  
'Hey, I don't know about you, but I'm getting hungry. How about we go in there, get something for lunch and eat lunch in Parc Guël?' Demyx beamed up at him.  
'That's a great idea! Let's go!' A sudden pull on his wrist followed soon after and Zexion found himself standing in a nicely cooled supermarket.  
'Would you mind stop pulling me by my wrist every time you are in a sudden hurry?' Demyx blushed at that.  
'Sorry, sometimes I get impulsive like that.' Zexion nodded.  
''s okay, just try to think before you do it again next time.' Demyx nodded and started to look around for some decent food.

When they got out of the supermarket they had a nice amount of food for their lunch and continued their way to the hostel. Once there, Demyx quickly changed his shoes for flip-flops and then they walked to Parc Guël. At the entrance of the park, Demyx's mouth fell open again at the beauty of it.  
'Demyx. Sheep,' was all Zexion said. Demyx grinned and shut his mouth. Near the entrance there was Gaudí's water spitting dragon. It was covered in multicolored mosaic stones, just like lots of other things in the parc.  
'Let's go that way.' Zexion said, pointing to a path somewhere at their right.

Soon they had found a small field of grass and some trees and sat down there to eat lunch. Zexion quietly ate his, enjoying it much more than the horrible breakfast. Soon the lunch was gone and they got up to explore the parc for a while. After walking up some stairs to the terrace that had a nice view over the parc and part of Barcelona, Zexion tried to find a nice pair of sunglassses, hoping to lessen the headaches that way. He didn't succeed in finding a decent pair, all the sunglasses were either way too big or just way too ugly. Having headaches it was then.

They had sat down at one of the many brightly colored mosaic benches when Demyx suddenly got an idea.  
'Hey, I was wondering, as we're going to spend our time together now anyway, can I take a picture of us?' Zexion looked at him perplexed.  
'Sure, I don't see why you couldn't. Just don't expect me to smile please.' Demyx nodded and grabbed his camera from his bag. After taking the picture Demyx decided that he wanted to know what Zexion's deal with smiling was.

'What is it with you and not smiling?' Zexion sighed inwardly, he knew this question would be coming...  
'Well, it's actually pretty simple; I only smile when I see a reason to do so. Taking a picture is not a very good reason to smile if you ask me. For anyone really, because usually people have these forced smiles in photographs.' Demyx nodded at this.  
'Ok, I see your point. Makes sense actually. I don't think I could do that though, I smile way too often. Seeing something nice, or pretty or whatever makes me smile, so that would be kind of disastrous for me I guess.' Zexion nodded.  
'I think I might smile a little more often around you though, you have a very happy and bubbly personality, so I guess it would be hard for people not to smile very often around you.'

Demyx blushed at that, not really knowing what to say. What Zexion said was true though, Roxas and Axel always say the same.

After sitting on the bench for a while, Zexion proposed to go for a small walk, the sun was right above them and it was very warm. Needless to say that didn't help the headaches at all. In the shade it was a little cooler and the parc had some interesting small paths going anywhere and everywhere.


	4. Chapter two: Day Two, Part B

**Author's note:**

**I'm sorry it took me so long again, it's still pretty hectic around here... **

This story is partly based on things that really happened.  
I went to Barcelona with my class as the final trip with all of us. It was AWESOME, so awesome that I decided to write a story about it. I got the idea on the plane back home, and worked it out a little in the train. Back home, I started writing.

Either way, these are the rules:  
Everything Zexion and Demyx do together, is what we did as a class on our final trip. I had Demyx's seat. Other small details (Demyx's bag, the birthdays of both of them) are based on true stuff as well. Some of the emotions they show are based on true stuff as well. (mostly mine). You could see both of them a somewhat a part of me, as they both show emotions I've felt during the trip.  
You should know that every little thing that considers Riku, I made it up.  
So, in short: everything they do together was done by us as a class. Everything in the past they (might) talk about or think about wasn't based on true things.  
I hope this will explain the most of it... if you have questions PLEASE ask me.

Characters belong to Disney  
Story and events and everything else belongs to me. (wow, this is the first time I actually put up a disclaimer)

_I hope you enjoy reading =).  
__~DSL._

**

* * *

**

**Chapter two: Day two, part B: **

**Chapter 2: Day two part B: Little creepers and naughty cats**

When his feet began to hurt, Demyx proposed to go back to the hostel, have a drink there and go to the camping afterwards. Zexion agreed to the plan, his headache hadn't gotten less and some cold water would be nice. Demyx felt something was off with Zexion, but when he asked about it, he didn't get an answer that agreed to his feelings.

The walk back to the hostel took little time and soon Zexion found himself enjoying the feeling of cold water in his overheated body. He gulped the first bottle of water down right away, and soon half of the second was gone as well. This made Demyx look at him a little funny.  
'What?' Zexion asked. Demyx pointed to his own bottle, that was nearly halfway gone.  
'How can you drink so much so fast?' he asked astonished. Zexion shrugged.  
'Thirsty, I guess?' Demyx grinned at that.  
'I was thirsty too, but I still have half of my bottle!' Zexion shrugged again and drank the rest of his second bottle as well.

After sitting there for a while, drinking lots of cold water and feeling a little refreshed, Demyx got up and pulled Zexion to his feet as well. Grabbing their bags they made their way to a metrostation. The road was less long than the night before as they were heading to a different station, which made their mood lighten up a little. The sun was still beaming down mercilessly and the air made their throats dry. Even though it was less a long walk than the night before, Demyx still found himself having trouble with his suitcase. The thing was still heavy and impossible. Entering the metrostation only made it worse, the stairs seemed to have no ending whatsoever. Besides, the air there was a lot warmer than outside, and it was sultry.

After the first metro took Zexion and Demyx to Plaza Catalunya, Zexion remembered why he hated metros, metrostations, and everything else that had to do with metros. The main reason was the heat and sultry in there. Followed by the crowds of people. At Plaza Catalunya Demyx dragged him to the Renfe train that would take them to the village in which their campsite was; El Masnou. Once in the train Zexion could relax a little, the train was nice and cool and the view was nice.

For once, Demyx found himself having no trouble being silent for almost half an hour. He looked outside, not being able to choose which side he should be looking at. The left side gave him views of villages, roads and landscapes. The right side gave him views of mostly beaches and the sea.

After about half an hour Zexion noticed the sign of the campsite passing by.  
'We should get out at the next station, we just passed that campsite of yours.' Demyx nodded.  
'Okay, let's get going then.' They got up and grabbed their bags again, readying themselves for the walk to the campsite. The walk probably wasn't that long and would take about ten to fifteen minutes at most without any luggage. But as Demyx was obviously having trouble with his bag again, the trip took them way longer.

Demyx couldn't think of things he could have left at home, he already packed only the things that were necessary. Then what on earth could make the bag so damned heavy?! He couldn't think of anything. As he struggled his way to the campsite, he watched Zexion walk in front of him, not seeming to be bothered at all by his luggage. From time to time, he would look back, see Demyx way behind and wait for him.

At some point even Zexion's endless patience reached its breaking point. He took off his own bag and placed it on the ground, waiting for Demyx to make his way up to him. When Demyx was finally next to him, Zexion made him stop dead in his tracks.  
'Put that bag down. Right. Now.' Demyx gave him a confused look.  
'Just do so.' Demyx dropped the thing, looking up at the taller boy, still confused.  
'I'll take it for the rest of the way there, you can take mine. Just put it on your back. And next time, take a backpack and not a suitcase... saves a lot of trouble.'

Demyx smiled and thanked the slate-haired teen. He hauled the big backpack onto his back and started walking again, relieved that the weight was on his shoulders instead of in his hands.

Zexion pulled the –unbelievably- heavy suitcase next to him, finding the thing annoying and heavy, but walking on anyway. He noticed Demyx's hands were still shaking from handling the thing halfway through Barcelona and all the way over here. He sighed softly, yet deep. The upcoming days would be long, but at least he wouldn't be alone. At least, there would be some company to keep him distracted throughout the day. The nights though, would be lonely, as always. Haunted by nightmares. Haunted by Riku. Another sigh. He would just have to find a way to get some sleep, without waking Demyx in the process.

After walking to the reception to ask where they could put up their tent. The youngman walked them to a nice spot with some shadow, close to some toilets and sinks. Demyx dropped the backpack on the ground, dropping himself right next to it. He winced right after, Spanish ground was... well, hard. Then he noticed something else; gigantic ants walking around, carrying leaves and other things towards small holes in the ground.  
'We are so not putting up our tent right here.' Zexion shot him a questioning look.  
'One word: ants.' Zexion looked down and noticed the little black animals as well.  
'Agreed.'

Demyx sighed deep after putting up the tent. They had used a hammer to smash the pins into the ground, which meant that it would take a lot of effort to get them back out again... The spanish ground was just as hard as it looked; rock solid. When the tent finally stood up right, Demyx started to pump air into his airmatress. He hoped the ants wouldn't get into their tent, and that the hard ground wouldn't make a hole in his airmatress. That might be problematic...

After they had sat down for a while when the tent stood right, Zexion proposed to go into town for dinner, the small shop at the campsite was already closed and they didn't have any food left from lunch. Demyx agreed and they left the tent for what it was, all their luggage inside, the zipper closed; hoping that there wouldn't get any ants inside.

The town appeared to be a thin, but very long line. The center was at about half an hour walking from the campsite and once there, they sat down at a restaurant pretty quickly, hungry and tired. The restaurant appeared to serve hamburgers and fries, which was fine for both. They were hungry, it didn't really matter to them what they would eat as long as it was food.

After they had finished their food, Zexion just wanted to go back to the campsite. He wanted to take a shower and get some sleep. He didn't get much sleep the night before, the annoying french people kept him awake, and he slept for maybe two hours after that, scared of the nightmares that would surely come if he slept for longer than that.

They got up, paid and started the walk back to the campsite. The view over the sea was a pretty one, Demyx noticed soon and he couldn't stop looking, which almost resulted in him walking in on someone, if Zexion hadn't pulled him back at the hem of his shirt.  
'Watch where you're going, we've got plenty of time to figure out where we can go to the beach and you'll have plenty of time to watch the sea then.' Demyx nodded, his cheeks becoming red with a blush.

When they got back to the campsite, they had passed a passway to the beach, it wasn't that far from the campsite and gave entrance to a beach that wasn't too big, but nice enough. As Demyx opened the zipper to the tent, Zexion looked around. The campsite wasn't very crowded, which was nice. After Demyx got into the tent, Zexion entered as well and grabbed the things he needed in the shower. He grabbed his towel and made his way down the hill to the showers.

Demyx sat at his airmatress for a moment, before getting up again and grabbing his showergel, shampoo and towels as well. As he made his way down to the showers, he noticed that he had another beautiful view over the sea. He remained standing there for a moment, but started walking again soon after when a car was making it's way up the small hill. He entered the shower area and heard Zexion shuffle around in the small stall, getting ready for his shower. Demyx took the stall next to his, placing his towel over the door and undressing swiftly, wanting to take the shower as soon as possible.

Zexion noticed he hadn't thought of this; the shower stalls were small and he had to put his towel on top of the door. He couldn't put all his clothes in the stall, because they would get soaked. The only thing he brought inside the stall were his boxershorts and his towel. He turned on the shower and noticed that there was coming a very small stream of water from the thing. He made a face, but then stepped under the streaming water anyway.

Demyx just stood there for a while. Just standing, with his eyes closed. Feeling the cold water washing the filth of the day away. He sighed deep and grabbed his shampoo. Soon after the smell of pineapples was filling the air and he started to feel a lot better, cleaner and fresher.

Zexion did his usual ritual only once this time, he didn't feel the need to do it more often and was thankful for that. When he was done, he turned off the shower and reached for his towel. Thank god the thing didn't get soaked. He started to dry off and soon he got out of the stall, grabbing his clothes and closing the door again. He got dressed inside the stall, not the easiest way to get dressed, but he didn't like the feeling of anyone being able to run into him while he was getting dressed. He was too ashamed of his body for that. Too ashamed of all the scars covering his body.

Demyx was done soon as well, happily surprised to see Zexion waiting for him outside, watching the sun set. Together they walked up the hill back to the tent and made a small washline to dry their towels on. After that was done, Demyx went inside the tent and lied down at the airmatress.

Zexion walked into the tent as well and saw Demyx lying on the matress. Demyx had heard him, obviously, for he opened his eyes and beamed a smile at him.  
'See, there's plenty of room for you to lie next to me!' Zexion looked a little more careful and saw Demyx was right; it indeed was a double and there was more than enough room for Zexion to sleep. Carefully avoiding touching Demyx, Zexion lied down next to him. The moment his head touched the airmatress, he sighed deep and closed his eyes.  
'See, it's not that bad.' Zexion shook his head, it was far from bad.

Demyx turned to his side so he could face the boy that lied next to him. He watchted Zexion close his eyes and sigh deep.  
'Did anyone ever tell you that your eyes are really beautiful?' The greyish blue eyes opened at once.  
'Um, not that directly...' Demyx smiled.  
'Well, then let me hereby tell you; you have the most beautiful eyes.' A small blush crawled its way to Zexion's cheek and Demyx chuckled as he watched the slate haired boy close his eyes again.  
'That doesn't mean you should shut them!' he said laughing.  
'I know, but I'm a little tired and keeping my eyes shut makes the headache less noticable.' Demyx frowned at that.  
'Do you need some painkillers or something? I brought some... or maybe some water will help! Or a shower! Wait... you just took a shower... well, nevermind then.' Zexion smiled a little at that.  
'All of that won't help. Painkillers don't help, god knows why. Water doesn't help, because, as you noticed earlier today, I drink a lot. And showers don't do the trick either. Shutting out light helps a little.'

Zexion felt the matress shifting after he said that and heard some rummaging through a bag after. He opened one eye to see Demyx pulling off his shirt and replacing it with another one. He couldn't help but notice that Demyx had a great body and a nice tan already. He closed the eye again when he saw Demyx starting to get out of his pants.  
'Hey, I don't know how about you, but I'm going to try and catch some z's. You look like you could use some as well. And doesn't sleep help for headaches?' Zexion nodded and lifted himself from the airmatress, rummaging around in his own bag for his pajama pants and shirt. Soon he had changed his clothes as well and lied down on the ground.

Demyx heard the shuffling of clothes and expected to feel the matress shift soon after, but that didn't happen. He opened his eyes to find Zexion on the ground, curled up in his sleeping bag.  
'Hey, I told you you could sleep on the matress, didn't I?' He didn't get an answer.  
'Hey, you really shouldn't sleep on the ground, you know, your back will be killing you tomorrow!' Again, Zexion didn't show any response. Demyx decided he had enough of the non-responsiveness and pulled the sleeping bag, Zexion still inside, onto the matress. For a moment all he saw was slate colored hair and two grey eyes glaring at him.

'I was perfectly fine, thank you.' Zexion said, not at all amused by what Demyx just did.  
'Well, sorry for trying to save you from pain in the morning.' The boy shot him a glare as well and turned to his other side.  
It would have been fine if Zexion had been a normal boy. Then he would have lied down on the matress right away. Then he wouldn't have had problems with Demyx pulling him onto the damned thing. But he was far from a normal boy. After all the abuse Riku put him through, all he could ever do was be afraid of close contact with others, which included sleeping on the same airmatress. Even sleeping in the same room with someone else could be a problem.

Demyx sighed deep. There was something about this boy, but what, he couldn't exactly put his finger on. Aside from the scars, he had some tics that just weren't normal. How the hell would someone get so many scars, anyway? How could you obviously have bled so much and still be alive? He had noticed that some of the scars were fading a little, which meant there were older and newer scars. Some of them were still flaming red, which meant they were pretty recent. What in god's name had this boy been through?  
These, and many more, questions filled Demyx's head before he fell asleep, wondering about all kinds of things this mysterious boy brought with him.

After the deep sigh of Demyx it remained silent and after a while Zexion heard his breathing slow down to a regular, deep breath, which meant that the other was asleep. He sighed deep and managed to relax just a little bit. Sleeping people usually didn't do much harm, did they? Soon he closed his eyes and let his mind wander over the two days that he had spent with this boy.  
Things were so far from the usual. He had hardly touched his books, Riku didn't dominate most of his thoughts, and he actually had felt the urge to smile several times. Now that was something unusual...  
While thinking all this over he heard something rummaging around, and soon he heard a second pair of tiny footsteps joining the first... what was going on outside? He didn't pay too much attention to it, he liked where his thoughts were taking him a little too much. When he heard the soft mewling that accompanied the footsteps, he felt the urge to smile again, positive that Demyx would love that. That brought him to think of the other boy. He was so happy, so pure, so innocent... so his opposite. His blue eyes were so vivid, so sparkling... so alive.  
These thoughts brought him back to himself. His eyes had been vivid and alive, he had been happy and pure. But all that was a long, long time ago. Before he knew Riku. Before he knew what the word 'abuse' exactly meant. Before he was raped, night after night, again and again. Before he was beaten, for every single thing, even for things he didn't do.  
Zexion sighed deep and turned to his side, his back facing Demyx's, and tried to get some sleep himself.

Demyx woke to the sound of muffled screams, the wild shifting of the matress and a hard kick to his shins. Rubbing his shin, he opened his eyes, to find Zexion twisting and turning, sweat on his furrowed brow and halfway screaming inaudible things. He turned to face the boy fully, wondering what the hell was going on and reached out for Zexion's hand. The moment their skins touched, Zexion's eyes opened and Demyx was faced with raw fear and panic.  
'Hey, easy there... it's okay, nobody can hurt you here...'

Zexion opened his eyes to face a slightly distressed Demyx. He tried to calm down as fast as possible, not wanting the boy to worry.  
'Are you alright?' The small voice reached his fogged mind and he managed to form some sort of coherent reply. Demyx still gave him a very confused and worried look, something that didn't suit his features.

Demyx didn't really think about his next move, and before he realized his hand was on Zexion's cheek, surprised of the softness of the skin he was touching.  
'Hey, it's okay. Really. There's nothing that can hurt you here, you're safe. I'm the only one here closeby, and I'm not going to hurt you. Your kick did kind of hurt me, though...' Demyx managed to get a small, comforting smile on his face, smoothly rubbing his thumb over the soft surface of Zexion's cheek.

Zexion let out a small sigh, slightly leaning into the soft caress. Despite his hate of physical contact he leaned in, despite of all the shit he had been through, all the people with whom it started out like this. Despite it all, he leaned in and felt Demyx's honesty, his purity flowing from the soft touch. For the first time in what seemed forever, he felt safe under someone's touch. He didn't feel scared, or in pain. And under the soft touch of Demyx's hand, the nightmare seemed already far away.

Demyx saw Zexion relax more and more, and the fear and panic in his eyes fade with time.  
'There you go, it's okay. You're safe and nobody is going to hurt you. It's okay.' Zexion gave a small nodd, aknowledging the things Demyx said.  
'Do you want to tell me what that was all about?' he asked carefully. A deep sigh was the answer. 'If you don't want to, it's fine as well. Just know that I'll listen if you feel like sharing...' Zexion nodded again.

'You should go back to sleep.' Zexion said after a while, his feelings still upside down from the whole ordeal. Demyx nodded.  
'I know, will you be okay?' Zexion nodded.  
'I guess I will, sorry I woke you up...' Demyx smiled.  
'That's fine, I'm glad I could be of some help.' Zexion nodded again and watched Demyx close his eyes. Not much later the boy had fallen asleep, his hand still on Zexion's cheek.  
'You have no idea, absolutely no idea, of how much help you were,' he whispered. Carefully, Zexion grabbed Demyx's hand and placed it next to his head. When he tried to pull his own hand back, the hand holding his wouldn't let go. A tiny warm feeling nestled itself within Zexion's cold heart. What would be the outcome of all this?


End file.
